Clarify Data.gov Feedback Loop

I applaud the visionaries behind Data.gov for understanding the importance of feedback. It is great that there are feedback input mechanisms for datasets and also this feedback input site (ideascale) for feedback on the solution governance, architecture, and technologies.

But in an ideal world feedback is an ongoing conversation, with comments or suggestions going into the system, responses and requests for use cases or clarification coming back out, explanation going back in, etc. This ongoing conversation seems to be broken in Data.gov. From the outside we can make suggestions, we can vote on suggestions, we can comment on each other's suggestions. But it seems that we can never hear back from Data.gov. It is impossible to tell if our suggestions are heard and/or understood, much less if there is likely to be any action in response.

I understand that there may be roadblocks to conversations, but it is important that these roadblocks be addressed because otherwise I think the community will tire of sending comments into the black hole, and will decide that feedback to Data.gov is ineffective, and that there are no opportunities to help make Data.gov better. This would be a sad loss of potential.